Best Character Dining?

[coopersmom]

OK, so I'm a hater of buffets (ick!) but have a five-year-old son who is a lover of characters So, I'm planning on doing one character meal, for him, during our upcoming September trip.

At Disney World we've done pre-park opening breakfasts so that, even if I don't eat much, I still feel we're at least getting the value of being in the part early, as well as meeting the characters. Is that possible at Disneyland, too?

Since if I kind of expect the food to be bad, what character dining experience do Disneyland vets recommend?

 

[Lisa808]

I asked the same and from all the review I plan on doing... Goofy's kitchen for dinner our first day there then Minnie and friends breakfast on our last day

 

[minjo]

The only morning character meal is at plaza inn. We went last June 2011 and quite a few characters. Got a pic with Minnie Mouse just as we were entering. Captain hook was there also. Got my hubby to take a pic. My two girls, then 22 and 18, loved it as I did.

The other breakfast one is at DLH at Goofy's kitchen. We saw quite a few characters there too

 

[minjo]

Oh yea., I guess there is story tellers at GCH and I think paradise pier has a breakfast but haven't gone to either of those.

 

[interstate70s]

I believe you can make reservations at Minnie 's during early entry even if you even if you aren't using you magic morning or staying onsite . The character interaction is good there.

Ive never eaten at Storyteller 's but I believe toy can order off the menu, so you wouldn't have to eat the buffet.

 

[Jkpark]

I think Storyteller's has the best food (and you can order food from the menu and not do the buffet as PP noted). The characters were a little more random (Chip, Dale, Meeko and 2 bears from Brother Bear). At Surf's Up you get Mickey, Minnie, Stitch, Daisy and Pluto. When we have been there it hasn't been as crowded so we get tons of interaction. I personally prefer their food to Minnie's or Goofy's. At Goofy's and Minnie's you get lots of characters and Minnie's is actually in the park. Ariel's at DCA also has breakfast but we haven't done that one.

Our girls (4 and 6) prefer rides to characters, but still love the characters. We seem to either do early breakfast at Surf's Up before the park is open so we can get there as close to park opening as possible. If we have early entry we will hit the rides for a few hours and then get the latest ressie at Minnie's we can.

 

[Sherry E]

If you have a moment, check out Laurie/DizNee Luver's brand new Character Meal Super Thread.

Laurie has done all 5 of the character meals (and has experience with both breakfast and dinner at Goofy's). She takes extensive photos of food and characters, and she has set the thread up with some basic info to get it started.

Here is the link:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=45514859#post45514859

 

[Here4mydisneyfix]

For character interaction, I really think Goofy's Kitchen is the best! Goofy walked my girls hand-in-hand to our table and for the rest of the meal, we were bombarded with at least 6 other characters!! AMAZING experience! And the food, although a buffet, is really good there and very fresh! LOTS of choices from salads to hot breakfast stuff and a huge dessert bar. They also have the famous pbnj pizza and the mac n cheese pizza too!

 

[yoyoyo]

We did Goofy's last year. We loved it. The interaction with the characters was incredible.

 

[PoohsFan1]

Oops...I put the post in the wrong thread...I thought I was replying to the link that was posted by the PP regarding the character meal super thread...however, I am glad that I came across this thread because we are in the early stages of planning out our first trip to DLR next June. This thread has helped me out with the character meals .